Andover will have recommendations for short-, medium- and long-term changes, as well as cost estimates, for improving safety in an intersection where a five-year-old girl was hit-and killed by a tractor trailer while crossing the street last month.
WalkBikeAndover said Tuesday it expects a draft of the report from the Elm Square road safety audit during the last week of July. The safety advocacy group participated in the audit’s site visit with TEC, the town’s traffic engineer, on Monday.
During Audit participants spent an hour telling TEC about the safety concerns in Elm Square, and then spent another hour to observe traffic in small groups around the intersection. The audit also reviewed traffic counts, signal operation, a six-year crash history and comments gathered at a safety forum earlier this month.
Sidney Olson was in the crosswalk and, according to her parents, the walk sign was lit when she was hit by a Sysco truck on May 9. The investigation into the crash is ongoing, but no charges have been filed, and the driver has cooperated with investigators.
Correction: In an earlier version of this story, the attribution was dropped on the status of the walk light when Sidney Olson was hit. In a text message, Andover Town Manage Andrew Flanagan said “No one has concluded the walk light was lit.” For more on corrections, see the Andover News Mission & Policies.
Elm Square is likely to be debated Thursday, when the Town holds the first Complete Streets Public Meeting tomorrow at the Cormier Youth Center at 6:30 p.m. “The event will provide an opportunity for residents to share their experiences and ideas for making our community safer as the Town of Andover beings the process of developing a Complete Streets Prioritization Plan,” the Town said in a Facebook post.
File photo.